February 10, 2006

Photographs by Iraqi Civilians

How is anyone to know what is going on? Which news source to believe: Al Jazeera? Fox? CNN? Both the New York Times and Washington Post recently apologized to their readers for the inadequacy of their pre-invasion period coverage.

US and other foreign journalists were “embedded” with American and British troops. Few were able to explore the Iraqi side of things.

Now it is unsafe for US journalists to walk the streets in much of Iraq. Few speak Arabic. In many situations reporting is prohibitively dangerous and difficult.

The Daylight Community Arts Foundation, a group committed to new forms of documentary, had the idea of providing Iraqi civilians with disposable cameras to get another, perhaps more tenable point of view. Why not ask the subjects what is going on, instead of making them the objects of a foreigner’s camera?

These pictures are a result of that experiment. They are glimpses from the inside. Ten people were given cameras in April and May. They were told: “This is an opportunity to show the American public what you want them to see.”

No one has found weapons of mass destruction. But in these pictures – taken from only ten rolls of film - there may be glimmers of another, more formidable weapon: understanding.

Comments

How is anyone to know what is going on? Which news source to believe: Al Jazeera? Fox? CNN? Both the New York Times and Washington Post recently apologized to their readers for the inadequacy of their pre-invasion period coverage.

US and other foreign journalists were “embedded” with American and British troops. Few were able to explore the Iraqi side of things.

Now it is unsafe for US journalists to walk the streets in much of Iraq. Few speak Arabic. In many situations reporting is prohibitively dangerous and difficult.

The Daylight Community Arts Foundation, a group committed to new forms of documentary, had the idea of providing Iraqi civilians with disposable cameras to get another, perhaps more tenable point of view. Why not ask the subjects what is going on, instead of making them the objects of a foreigner’s camera?

These pictures are a result of that experiment. They are glimpses from the inside. Ten people were given cameras in April and May. They were told: “This is an opportunity to show the American public what you want them to see.”

No one has found weapons of mass destruction. But in these pictures – taken from only ten rolls of film - there may be glimmers of another, more formidable weapon: understanding.